Clifford Sifton

Clifford Sifton (10 March 1861-17 April 1929) was Interior Minister of Canada from 17 November 1896 to 28 February 1905, succeeding Hugh John Macdonald and preceding Frank Oliver.

Biography
Clifford Sifton was born in Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada in 1861, and he moved to Manitoba and was admitted to the Manitoba bar in 1882. He entered the province's Legislative Assembly in 1888, and was appointed attorney-general in 1891, rising to national prominence because of his defense of national, non-denominational schooling against church-run schools. In 1896, he entered national politics when Wilfred Laurier appointed him Minister for the Interior and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs. In these positions, he became the principal architect of a wave of immigration into the prairies, which made these new provinces economically viable and ensured their survival. This promotion of European immigration was accompanied by a disregard for the land claims of native peoples. He resigned from the government in 1905, and in 1911 left the Liberal Party of Canada over Laurier's desire to liberalize trade with the United States. He supported the Conservative Union government of 1917, but thereafter drifted back to support Mackenzie King's Liberals.